Centrifuging apparatus



Oct. 26, 1954 HENSGEN CENTRIFUGING APPARATUS Filed March 19, 1952BERNARD T. HENSGEN INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 26, 1954 CENTRIFUGING APPARATUS" Bernard:-

Hens-gem. Chicago, 111., assignom to. Swift: 8a: Gompany,; ChicagmIll:,- a corporation.

of Illinois Application March 1-9, 1952, Serial No: ZW-A'N) 4-Claims. 1

The present inventionrelat'es to: an apparatus for separating two.-materials that have been divided by centrifugaliforce.

While centrifugalforce.forms a useful tool to divide compounds intoidentifiable parts, it is often a. difficult' problem to physicallydisplace one of the. parts away from the other with a high. degree of?accuracy; orra degree of: accuracy commensurate with; the. line? of.division that is obtained. For example; when a mixture of whey and curdare. centrifuged in the manufacture of cheese; the: heaviervcurdspacksagainst the outside wall of the centrifuge drum, while the lighter wheyforms. a cylinder inside the curd, and a scoop may be: uesd to pick off;the majority of the rotating whey. However, a residuum of whey will:remain that cannot: be re-' moved with a scoop: without runningthe-risk:

of or actually picking; off: some ofIthe-curd.

The principal. object. of. the present invention is to provideanapparatus for removing this residuum. of the; lighter: fluid: without,at the same. time, taking any of. therheavier material along therewith;

The feature of! the inventionzisthati this-wmaybe accomplished even.though. the inner surface of. the: heavier material forms-shallowinterstices within. which lighter material: is pocketed;

Further objects. and? advantages include: a device whichissimpletonmanufacture and mai'ntain; a device'whichziszeasily" operatedeven: by inexperienced help and which is relatively foolproof; and. adevice which may bereadily adapted to automatic, or semi-automaticoperation.

Additional objects and advantages will-become apparent fromthe followingdescription, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a partial section taken at line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section taken at line 3-3 of Figure 2. The apparatus thatI have devised for removing the residuum of the relatively lightweightliquid from the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifugesorbs that liquid with an object from which the liquid can subsequentlybe removed. Of course, in some instances the whole of the lighter liquidmay be removed by this apparatus. Preferably that other object is amovably mounted member which may take the form of a roller whichcontacts the liquid to sorb the same and then rotates to anotherthrough. belts! Ial'zinterconnecting: a..pulley I8 on: the: motor shaftan'dta pulley I9 secured to the outerrwalli ofizcylinder H.

A'portion. of: the-bottom of cylinder .l I forms apai'rrof: doors-r2]:mounted on hingesa22. The doors. are normally: held inn. place by alatch 23.

Acpair of: covers lismountedionhirrges 2.6.may beausedlt'o: closethevtop of the circular frame i2 so thatrthe? liquid: throwmoutrof thecentrifuge H by the, centrifugal force will be. deflected downwardlyandltrapped byabafilezl surrounding: the: centrifuge: cylinden. Thebafiie 2! is securedto? thei wall ofi. frame I2 and a gasket 28providesaa sealbetween: the inner edge of the bailie=2lrandrthe .walloficylinder II". The liquid trapped: between the baflie 2.1 and thevertical wall of the: frame- [2 maybe: removed through a drain:connectionzt'fl:

A strainer plate 3| having a plurality of openings 32 therein is securedto the inner wall of the" cylinder: M; a short; distance below the topthereof.

It will be:appa'rent.to.: those skilled". in. the art that. when amixture; of a: relatively light fluid and aiheavier'materialzis poureddnthe rotating majority,- of; the lighterrfiuidr will be thrown offthroughstrainer plate 3|, but a thin film 34 of liquid will remain on the innersurface of the heavier material 35. If the mixture that was centrifugedwas whey and curd during the course of the cheese manufacture, themajority of the whey would be thrown off with. a thin film 34 of wheyremaining on the inner surface of the curd, the heavier material 35.

To remove the remaining whey 34, the covers 25 are opened and a rotarymember or roller 38 (see Figure 3) having a covering 39 of an absorbingmaterial, such as cheese-cloth, thereabout is brought into contact withthe film of whey. The roller 38 is rotatively mounted on an axle 40 andsecured inside the end of a hollow arm 4|, whereby the covering willmove about a closed path.

The ends 43 of roller 38 have a plurality of openings 44 therethrough.The open end of arm 4| is shaped to fit as closely as possible about theends 43 and the periphery of roller 38, as is seen in Figures 3 and 2,respeectively.

As will be seen in Figure 1, arm M is mounted on a stand 45 through ahorizontal extension '46. A rack 48 on the side of arm M is engaged by agear 49 rotated by a hand wheel 50 to provide vertical movement to arm4|. Horizontal movement is obtained by rotating a gear 52 through a handwheel 53, and by means of the gears engagement with a rack 3 onhorizontal extension E6, the arm ll and roller 38 are moved toward andaway from a wall of cylinder II.

A flexible hose 56 is connected to the upper end of arm M and also to asource of reduced pressure, such as a vacuum pump (not shown).

As has previously been explained, after the majority of the whey orother liquid is removed,

The covers The sorbing surface 39 of the roller will begin picking upthe liquid. The contact between the periphery of roller 38 and thematerial within the rotating cylinder ll causes the roller to commenceto rotate. The portion of the sorb ing surface 39 of the roller that wasin contact with the film rotates to within the end of arm Lil. At thatpoint the air which is being drawn through openings it by the lowpressure existing within arm 4!, through its connection 56 with asuitable source of reduced pressure, passes through the clamp sorbingsurface picking up moisture and reducing the moisture content of thesorbing material. Continuous rotation of the roller causes every portionof the sorbing surface to be continually picking up liquid while incontact with film 3 4 and discharging liquid into the air being drawnthrough arm All.

The foregoing description of a specific embodiment is for the purpose ofcomplying with U. S. C. 112 and should not be construed as imposingunnecessary limitations upon the ap pended claims.

I claim;

1. A device for removing the residuum of relatively lightweight liquidfrom the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifuge in whichthe two have been separated, said device including a roller, the surfaceof which is a sorbing material, and arm means for inserting said rollerinto said centrifuge with a portion of sorbing surface in contact withsaid residual liquid, said roller being rotatively mounted on one end ofsaid arm means, said arm means including a vacuum conduit, one end ofsaid vacuum conduit fitting closely about another portion of saidsorbing surface, the other end of said vacuum conduit being adapted tobe connected to a suitable vacuum source.

2. A device for removing the residuum of relatively lightweight liquidfrom the inner surface of a heavier material in a centrifuge in whichthe two have been separated, said device including a hollow rigid rollerhaving a perforate surface and an absorbing covering about saidperforate surface, a tubular arm, said roller being rotatively mountedat one end of said arm, said arm at said end fitting about one side ofsaid roller and about the ends of the roller at said side, the other endof said arm having a vacuum line connection thereon, the ends of saidroller having openings therein whereby the interior thereof is open tothe atmosphere and mounting means for said arm to position said end ofsaid arm within said centrifuge with said covering in contact with saidliquid.

3. A device for separating a relatively lightweight liquid and a heaviermaterial including the combination of a centrifuge having a wall againstwhich the material is disposed by centrifugal force with the liquid onthe surface of the material, and liquid removal means adjacent saidcentrifuge, said means including a supporting arm member and a movablymounted member having a sorbing surface movable along a closed path,said movably mounted member being mounted on said arm member, said meansbeing constructed to bring said surface into contact with said liquid insaid centrifuge and to transport the sorbed liquid from within towithout said centrifuge.

4. A device for separating a relatively lightweight liquid and a heaviermaterial including the combination of a centrifuge having a wall againstwhich the material is disposed by centrifugal force with the liquid onthe surface of the material, and liquid removal means adjacent saidcentrifuge, said means including a supporting arm member, and a rotarymember mounted on said arm member and having a sorbing surface, saidmeans being constructed to bring said surface into contact with saidliquid in said centrifuge and to transport the 'sorbed liquid fromwithin to without said centrifuge.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Sharples .Apr. 15, 1930 Number

